<?php
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$xhtml = array(
	'<{title}>' => 'Death and Odysseus',
	'<{subtitle}>' => 'Written in <span title="English Composition 2">ENGL 1102</span> by <a href="https://y.st./">Alex Yst</a>, finalised on 2018-02-14',
	'<{copyright year}>' => '2018',
	'takedown' => '2017-11-01',
	'<{body}>' => <<<END
<p>
	<a href="https://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0021-death-and-odysseus-lord-dunsany.html">Death and Odysseus</a> is about the god of death trying to scare a wartime hero out of pride, not waning to be laughed at by the likes of the goddess of love any longer.
</p>
<p>
	The author deliberately calls these deities not by their names, Hades and Aphrodite, but by that in which they rule over.
	From that, we can infer that the author is using these characters not as themselves, but as representations of their respective elements.
	We see that the author considers death to be petty and, as the author puts it, it <q cite="https://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0021-death-and-odysseus-lord-dunsany.html">never did anything worth doing</q> (Dunsany, 1915).
	Death is inevitable, and yet it&apos;s not worthwhile.
	We can&apos;t avoid death, but that doesn&apos;t make death a positive aspect of life.
	However, while death isn&apos;t positive, it&apos;s also not something to be feared.
	Death tries to get the jump on Odysseus, but Odysseus wasn&apos;t even <strong>*startled*</strong> by death!
	Once a few moments elapse so it&apos;s clear Odysseus is unphased, he turns and faces death.
	He doesn&apos;t try to escape, he doesn&apos;t try to bargain, and he doesn&apos;t falter in his words.
	This isn&apos;t courage; courage is standing up to what you fear.
	There is no fear here though.
	He just accepts death as inevitable and goes along peacefully and willingly.
	The author, through these events, is telling us that death is not something to be feared.
</p>
<p>
	This idea that death shouldn&apos;t be feared is well-supported by Odysseus&apos; reactions.
	Odysseus was no fool.
	He was one of the main leaders that helped take down the impenetrable city of Troy.
	As the walls could not be breached, he lead his people to dismantle their ships and build a fake trophy for the Trojan people, appealing to their sense of pride.
	With the ships and the soldiers gone, Troy thought it was safe to bring their trophy into the city, but it was within that trophy that the soldiers were hiding.
	Odysseus tricked the Trojans into bringing the enemy soldiers into the city!
	This shows just how wise and cunning Odysseus is.
	Odysseus isn&apos;t accepting death out of foolishness, but out of wisdom.
</p>
<p>
	And why should death be feared?
	Fear is an emotion designed to make us fight back or to flee; it&apos;s an emotion that compels us to change the situation for a better one.
	Death cannot be avoided or traded for something better though.
	So what use is fear in the face of death?
	Acceptance is the only wise choice, as the author implies.
</p>
<p>
	This story certainly applies to people today.
	Death is still a major cause of fear for many people.
	It&apos;s to the point where a large majority choose to belief in silly tales about the existence of an afterlife we have no proof of.
	It&apos;s one of the driving forces behind popular religions today.
	People want to feel like there is no end to them, that they can go on forever.
	We simply have no reason to honestly believe that though.
	When we die, that&apos;s it; there is no more.
	We, as a people, need to learn to accept and embrace that.
</p>
<p>
	I cannot, to the best of my memory, recall reading a story quite like this one.
	Most similar stories I&apos;ve read are about trying and failing to cheat death, or sometimes even trying and <strong>*succeeding*</strong>.
	There&apos;s a dreadful lack of stories in which the hero simply accepts death unless they&apos;re suffering pretty badly and want an escape.
</p>
<p>
	Assuming I understand the author&apos;s intent correctly, I strongly believe the message they have to offer.
	The only way to put a stop to death is to stop creating more life.
	Life always ends.
	It&apos;s one of a multitude of reasons I&apos;ve chosen never to have children of my own.
	By creating new people, I&apos;d be causing them to one day die; I&apos;d be giving them a death sentence at conception.
	That&apos;s not something you do to someone you love, and it&apos;s not something I feel right about doing to anyone.
	When it&apos;s my time to go, I hope I face my death just like Odysseus did: without fear and without reservation.
</p>
<div class="APA_references">
	<h2>References:</h2>
	<p>
		Dunsany, L. (1915). Death and Odysseus. Retrieved from <a href="https://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0021-death-and-odysseus-lord-dunsany.html"><code>https://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0021-death-and-odysseus-lord-dunsany.html</code></a>
	</p>
</div>
END
);
